Chapter 10: Brother

"Don't think you're getting out of this without a fight!" Torture said chasing after Edward and Alphonse Elric as they were heading for the door.
"Oh, yeah? That's what you think!"(A/N: that was so corny) Ed said as he tried to stop Torture by slashing at him with his blade.
Torture dodged every move and then tripped Ed after the flurry of slashes and hits. Ed fell to the floor, but then got right back up. He felt a strange sensation overcome him, and there was more bluish glows, like lightning. Ed felt dizzy, and then fell to the floor, and blacked out.
"BROTHER!..." He heard Al say before Ed closed his eyes.

"Ughhh...wh...what happened?" Ed said as he finally awoke."Where am I"
"Brother?" Al asked.
"Brother? What? I'm not your brother! Who are you?" Ed asked.
"Ed! He's lost his memory..." Al said."Do you know who you are"
"Yeah, I'm Edward Elric, but who the hell are you?" Ed asked Al.
"I'm Alphonse Elric, your brother!" Al said.
"Liar! I don't have a brother! Why don't you take that suit off and prove that you're my brother"
"I-I can't"
"And why not"
"Okay, you asked for it..." Al said as he took off the head of the armor. Ed peered down into the armor and.
"OH MY GOD! THERE'S NOTHING IN THERE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!" Ed screamed. He tried to run away, but ran into a tree and fell down.
"Pain must have erased every memory he had of me..." Al said.
"Wha- What do you want? Are you some kind of monster? What are you?" Ed asked.
"I'm your little brother, Alphonse! Don't you remember? Our mom died and"
"Don't you mean MY mom? And how do you know all of this? Are you some kind of stalker?" "No! I've already told you, I'm your little brother, Al. I'll take you to the Colonel; he'll straighten things out..." Als said.
"The Colonel? You mean Colonel Mustang? Why should we go to him? I hate him!" Ed said.
"Then we'll go to Pinako"
"Why should I trust you?" Ed said.
"Okay...do you remember Pain and Torture?" Al said calmly.
"Yeah...but what does that have to do with anything?" Ed said.
"Pain must have erased all of your memories of me, so you'd turn your back on me and help them!" Al said.
"I have no reason to side with them, or turn my back on you. But don't get me wrong, I stll don't trust you," Ed said.
"So you'll go to Pinako's with me and straighten this out"
"I guess..." Ed replied.

The two Elric brothers walked to the nearest train station and waited for a train to come and pick them up and take them to Risembool. When the train finally came, Ed and Al boarded quickly.
"I'm not sitting with you," Ed said to Al when he passed him in the aisle. He went two seats ahead of Al and sat down.
"Ed," Al said."Why not"
"Because I don't know if you're planning to kill me or something like that," Ed said.
"Why would I kill my own brother!" Al said.
"We still have no proof that you're my brother. We'll see what Pinako says. I'm going to bed; don't try any funny stuff."

When Ed awoke, he found Al staring at him.
"AHHHH! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO!" Ed screamed.
"Brother! I'm sorry!" Al said apologetically.
"Quit calling me 'brother'," Ed said.
"I'm sorry; that's just what I called you. I guess it's a habit"
They arrived in Risembool shortly("QUIT CALLING ME SHORT!" lol!) and Ed and Al headed for Pinako Rockbell's house. Al knocked on the door and Pinako answered and invited them in. Sloth was there, fusing her hand with the water in a cup in front of her.
"Ed, Al, I'm glad you came back!...why did you come back?" Sloth asked.
"You're gonna laugh! This hunk of metal here claims he's my brother!" Ed said.
Everyone stared at him, dumbfounded.
"What?" Ed said.
"Let me explain. We were looking for Pain and Torture and Riza told us she found them.We went to Central looking for her, but she wasn't there. Riza called Roy and told him to tell us to meet her in a cabin. We went there and found out that Envy kidnapped Riza and impersinated her to lure us there. We fought Lust, Greed, Envy, Torture and Pain, but then some left and left Pain and Torture to kill us. They didn't, thankfully. They took away all of Ed's memories of me to make our journey more difficult. And that's what happened," Al said.
"Um..." Pinako started.
"Are you serious? He is my brother? Everything he said was true?" Ed said.
"Yes, Edward," Sloth said.
"Sorry, Al," Ed said.
"No need to apologize; you didn't know," Al said."Pain did this"
"I feel so bad," Ed said.
"Ed, get some rest. You've been through a lot," Pinako said.
"You're right. I'll see you all later. Good night," Ed said as he walked up the stairs to his room. "I don't get it," Ed said to himself when he reached his room,"Why don't I remember my own brother"
He walked to his bed and sat down. He looked at his bedside table and saw a picture of him and another kid with hazelish eyes and golden-brown hair.
"That must be him," Ed said."But what's with the armor? There's nothing in it! What the hell's going on!"

"Brother?" Al said as he walked in his room about two hours later. The lights were turned off and Ed was asleep on his bed.
"He's asleep...I'd better go before I wake him up," Al whispered to himself.
"Al...don't leave," Ed said."Why isn't there anyone in that suit of armor"
"Well...do you remember when we tried to bring Mom back?" Al asked him.
"Yeah...but you weren't there"
"Actually, I was. But you don't remember me. My body was taken away for the equivilent exchange to try to bring her back. You sacrificed your right arm to transmute my soul to a suit of armor. And that's why it's empty"
"Really...Wh-... . . .Never mind..."Ed said.
"No, what? Tell me!" Al persisted.
"No, just go..." Ed said and shooed him out of the room.

IN THE FOREST...

"Well...now what are we going to do? The Elrics are getting closer and closer to figuring out our plan!" Greed said to Pain and Torture. They were all three in a large room made out of bark but kept lighted by a small fire.
"I erased the memories of that tin can from Ed. For all he knows, he doesn't even have a brother," Pain said.
"It'll slow them down quite a lot, so we'll have time to start the plan," Torture said."I'll call Sloth now"
As Torture got up to call Sloth, Pain got up and turned a pile of firewood into boards of wood. A snake slithered by and she immediately changed a board of wood into a wooden stake and killed the snake. "Hm. One of Martel's friends, I suppose, coming to get revenge on her death. Well, you can't! That bastard Pride killed her, not us! Why would I kill my own friend?" She yelled at the dead snake.
"Geez, it's dead!" Greed said."She was one of my comrades, too, so don't say I don't understand"
"I'm sorry, Greed. I just can't believe him...She did nothing wrong..." Pain said as she started to cry.
"Let it go, Pain," Torture said softly as he held her in his embrace."It's alright. I got a hold of Sloth. She said the plan's coming along great."